Modern households are powered by electricity, gas and water. The household receives electricity from the electrical company, in many cases a public utility. Similarly, natural gas is supplied by a gas provider, and water is supplied by the water commission.
The consumption of electricity, gas and water is measured by meters which have been installed at the customer's house. The electricity meter measures the amount of electricity, i.e. power, used by the household and the consumption of electrical power is indicated by readings on the meter. The electrical meter typically comprises a number of dial meters which show the power consumption in kilowatt hours (kWh). In order to bill the consumer, it is necessary for the electrical utility to obtain a power consumption reading from the meter. Since the meter is located at the household, an employee from the power utility must physically visit the house to take the readings from the meter. Therefore, before the electrical utility can issue bills to its customers, the electrical meters at each house must be manually read. It will be appreciated that this represents a significant expenditure of manual effort. The situation is further exacerbated by the inaccessibility of some meters, e.g. located inside the basement of the house, and the unavailability for reading during normal working hours when the occupants of the house are at work. Return visits only increase the cost and length of time from the meter reading to issuance of a statement. Moreover, the profitability of an electrical utility is becoming increasingly dependent on the cost-effective provision of services and this means billing its customers at regular intervals.
In an attempt to overcome the problem of inaccessible meters, some power utilities have offered a "one-time" subsidy to householders to encourage them to relocate their electricity meters from inside the premises to outside, where they can be read by the utilities employees at their convenience. However, in most cases, the subsidy is far less than the actual cost for relocating the meter and results in an out-of-pocket expenditure for the consumer. Consequently, such an approach has not met with overwhelming success, and the problem of reading inaccessible meters remains.
In another attempt to provide billings at regular and frequent intervals, electrical power utilities have resorted to other techniques. One method involves estimating power consumption for a household based on past usage patterns. The consumer is billed based on an estimate, an every few months, for example six months, the meter is manually inspected and the actual power consumption is determined. Although such an approach is effective to reduce the number of on-site visits required by utility employees, it may be less than satisfactory from the viewpoint of the power utility or the consumer. For example, if the estimated power consumption is less than the actual power consumption, then the power utility is not collecting all the revenue it is owed. Similarly, if the estimate is overly conservative, then the consumer is paying for electricity which is not being used, which is not desirable from the consumer point of view and leads to the impression of over-billing.
Another method used by some electrical utilities in an attempt to reduce the number of on-site meter inspections involves sending out printed cards which resemble the meter face. The consumer is then obliged to fill in the cards according to meter position on each of the dials. Once again, while such an approach is effective in reducing the need to send out utility staff to read the meters, it does have shortcomings. Firstly, reliance on a consumer to accurately transpose the meter readings to the printed card introduces an element of error. Secondly, the unscrupulous consumer who understands the meter readings can transcribe inaccurate fraudulent meter readings. Although such fraud would eventually be uncovered by a routine meter check, it does lead to short term losses for the electrical utility and the need to send out a utility employee. The printed card method also introduces a further delay in obtaining meter readings which must be processed before billing statements can be generated and sent out to the consumers.
In an attempt to overcome these shortcomings, various automated systems (referred to as "smart meters") have been developed. Known smart meters are sold under various names such as for example, Power Stat.TM., Nertec.TM., Hexagram.TM. and Data Star.TM.. Such systems vary in price from approximately $220 for the Hexagram.TM. meter to $3000 for the Data Star.TM. meter. Such meters can provide an adequate solution (albeit an expensive one) to the problem of on-site meter reading, however they are usually subject to strict government regulations. In the eyes of regulatory bodies, such smart meters are perceived as having an inherent deficiency--the potential to report a false or incorrect reading relative to the actual reading on the meter. In Canada, for example, the Federal government has mandated that meter reading produced by such smart meters (i.e. non-intrusive reporting technology) be visually audited at least once a year, as a check to confirm that the "smart meters" are reporting power consumption accurately. It will be appreciated that such additional audit readings represent a significant additional expense for the utilities, without providing any reciprocal benefit.
A further disadvantage experienced with the smart meters from the standpoint of a public electrical utility is that the existing meters in the premises have already been amortized by the property owner, and replacement units for conventional analog meters are typically less than $100, therefore upgrading residential sites with smart meter represents a significant capital expenditure, and the end consumer would be reluctant to pay for the expenditure, thereby putting the financial burden on the electrical utility. Moreover, the staff at the utilities are fully trained to maintain, test and certify the existing meters. If a new smart meter is introduced, the utilities are faced with the prospect of trying to pass on the cost for personnel training, and the sophisticated calibrating and testing equipment which would be required, in addition to the high initial capital cost.
It will be appreciated that the profitability of a power utility depends in large part on billing customers on a timely fashion and collecting payments on a regular basis. Given that the business community usually extends credit for thirty days, if there was an economically viable method available for invoicing consumer at 15- or 30-day, rather than 60-day intervals, significant revenues could be captured earlier in the billing cycle by the power utilities.
Electricity generation is no longer a "natural monopoly", as more fuel efficient technologies are being introduced. Economic competition has forced industry to realize just how important electricity prices are in creating or destroying competitive advantage. The proposed restructuring of the North America (U.S.) Electric Utility industry will likely involve deregulation, which in turn, will enable consumers to buy power from any broker or supplier, not just their local monopoly utility.
Restructuring will mean new markets for electric companies, distributors, equipment manufacturers including the cable and telecommunications industries, new freedom for businesses to buy in an open market, and new opportunities for other industries. To capitalize on these opportunities, electric power companies are planning to dramatically boost customer service and market imaginative new products such as real-time pricing.
The ability of consumers to choose their energy suppliers and take advantage of an open market, real-time pricing, etc., will be enhanced if their electric meters can be accessible for reading at any time, thus permitting the accurate recording in real time of power consumed up to the (pre-determined) moment of cessation of power provided by one supplier, prior to commencing to consume power provided by a new supplier. While meters continue to be read visually on a premises-by-premises basis, the option of reading the meter at any time is unavailable at an acceptable cost.
Thus, there remains a need for a meter which can be scanned or read at any time and from a remote location, by the public utility or a billing agent of the utility. Such a meter preferably is available for reading without the need for on-site inspection and verification, and is accessible from a remote location at any time or on demand.